After staying for a decade in opposition, DMK which is led by M K Stalin, has won a convincing victory over arch-rival AIADMK in Tamil Nadu. Stalin, 68, is set to become the Chief Minister for the first time. Counting of votes for 49 of the 234 seats in Tamil Nadu election 2021 is still underway. The DMK-led alliance has won 124 seats and is ahead in 32. The AIADMK, on the other hand, has won 59 and is leading in 17 constituencies. DMK and its allies, including the Congress, are ahead in over 150 seats, while the ruling AIADMK is up in close to 80 seats in the Tamil Nadu election results. In the 234-seat assembly House, a party needs at least 118 seats to win the election.
AIADMK, which has been in power since 2011, hoped to extend its hold on the state for another term. The Opposition DMK, on the other hand, is hoping a mixture of anti-incumbency and instability within the ruling party will allow it to return to the helm of affairs after a decade.
Narendra Modi thanked the people of Tamil Nadu who voted for the National Democratic Alliance and said that his party would continue to work for state’s welfare and for nurturing the Tamil culture.
Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan lost his maiden poll by a slender margin of 1,728 votes to BJP national women’s wing president Vanathi Srinivasan in Coimbatore South Assembly constituency.
Squeezed out by the two rival alliances led by DMK and AIADMK, it appeared to be the end of the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK), which failed to bag a single seat in the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, with even party founder T T V Dhinakaran losing from Kovilpatti constituency.
The results announced on Sunday came as a major setback to the political ambitions of Dhinakaran, who floated the party in 2018 to prove a point shortly after his and his aunt V K Sasikala’s expulsion from the AIADMK. The Election Commission of India is yet to declare winners for 49 seats.
